Bend It!

Just a quick note to let you know that today went much better than yesterday. I slept well, went to Aquatic Therapy, went to lunch and saw the whole newspaper crew and ate with them. Then they invited me back to see the final layouts for the paper that is coming out Friday.

Earlier this week, I neglected to mention that after shooting that building dedication last Thursday, I shot what WRAMC calls Organization Day, or O-Day. It was basically like any company picnic with booths, games, food and fun. I spent four hours in the heat taking over 390 pictures. Many pictures of the same things to make sure I got good ones. It was extremely hot, but stayed in the shade and learned that if you take their pictures, you get you food tickets and food from those that give it out before everyone else. It was awesome.

Then this past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to photograph the Postmaster General of the United States and Retired General Colin Powell unveil the new 41 cent Purple Heart Stamp. Colin Powell then awarded two soldiers (that happen to be in my platoon) Purple Heart awards for injuries they sustained during combat while serving in Iraq. It was a very cool assignment and I got to rub elbows with the professional photographers… and I mean that! These guys shoot with their elbows sticking straight out to make sure they have staked out their “space.” They push and get in your way… it was awesome. I got some pretty good photos and it was exciting knowing that I was photographing something going on and that if I didn’t get the right pictures, they wouldn’t have them for the paper. I was sweating like crazy during the whole thing and I think I popped off about 130 pictures in just an hour. I really had fun and am learning a lot. I don’t know how I’m going to capture an image of the paper when it comes out tomorrow though. I just want to share it with you somehow.

Lastly, Captain Nun from yesterday’s post stopped by to tell me that she had extra tickets to the Major League Soccer (MLS) game between DC United and LA Galaxy. I know that the famous David Beckham joined the LA team this year, but still has not played. But I knew it was a sold out game and they were 6th row seats near the goal, so I called a few friends and ended up going with my friend Tina from my community group, who also happens to be a soccer fan. I’ve never really followed soccer and she kept me up on the rules of the game and what was going on. About 30 minutes into the game, Beckham began warming up, stretching and running back and forth. We figured his team just had him do it for show to make the fans happy. He did all of this right in front of us since we were almost down on the field, so it was cool. But the fans were just downright annoying. From the time that he got up, they stood up to watch him warm up and got in everybody’s way. The dude was just warming up! But I think it was mostly the ladies… so I guess that’s why. Anyway, we hit halftime and it started to rain. Hard. Good thing Tina brought an umbrella. We huddled in our seat and everyone around us got soaked. Then with 20 minutes left in the game, Beckham took off his shirt (to the pleasure of the ladies) and put on his game shirt and got in the game! So, this was his MLS debut in America. The news said he was inspired by the large crowd and by being in DC for the first time ever. He was a bit slow and almost helped LA score once, but in the end, DC won the game 1-0. At the end of the game he took his shirt off again and gave it to one of his players (a tradition, I guess?) and went on his way. All in all, we had a good time and it was pretty exciting. Maybe I’ll see another soccer game in the near future.